Indu Varma

Recipient of the 1997 Governor General's Award for Excellence in Teaching Canadian History

November 1, 1997

Marshview Middle School, Sackville (New Brunswick)

Indu Varma combines a project-based teaching approach with telecommunications to move beyond textbooks and classroom walls. Her classes in Canadian government, comparative studies, and the history of New Brunswick come to life through activity-based, interactive projects. Ms. Varma has developed projects including Canadian Fest, Canadian World Fest, and Towards Raising a Canadian Consciousness.

Her students have participated in over 26 radio and television broadcasts. They have talked and worked with fellow students across Canada and the world. They have written and recorded songs, designed unity pins, constructed a national unity quilt, and used the Internet to host forums on Canada. Indu Varma’s students have been learning in a global classroom with the world at their fingertips, sharing information with peers, parents and their community. She has won seven major awards including the Prime Minister’s Award, a Hilroy Fellowship Award and the Marshall McLuhan Award.